Earth boring drill



July 22, 1930. REED EARTH BORING DRILL Original Filed Feb. 27, 1928INVENTOR:

'- BY ClanenceEReed,

ATTORNEYS,

Reissued July 22, 1930 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE E. REED, OF WICEI'IA, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR TO CHICAGO PNEUMATICTOOL COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEYEARTH-BORING DRILL Original 1T0. 1,692,798, dated November 20, 1928,Serial No. 257,259, filed February 27-, 1928. Application for reissuefiled une 24, 192s. Serial No. 373,416.

y type of earth boring drills shown in Letters Patent of the UnitedStates granted to me,

combination and arrangement of parts herelocking segments.

ina'fter described and particularly pointed out in the claims. I a

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a view of the roller cutteruni with parts in section and parts in elevation, and with a part of thehead shown in section. Fig. 2 is' a sectional view of the threaded ring.a

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of one of the Fig. 4 is a face ments.

Fig. 5 is a face view of the threaded ring.

In this drawing 1 indicates a part ofthe bit head. The roller cutterunit has a shank 2 to fit removably in a socket 30f this head, I

where it is held by any suitable locking member such as indicatedgenerally at 4. This may be of the form disclosed in Letters Patentofthe United States granted to me.

The shank 2 extends at an angle from the base plate 5 of the unit. whichbase plate is adapted to fit a seat recess in the bithead.

From this baseplate a spindle 6 projects and on this spindle the rollercutter T is revolubly mounted. The spindle may be of stepped form,presenting portions of different diameters as shown. or it may beofother forms, such for instance as conical.

The roller cutter which is conical or approximately so has a bore to fitin part the shape of the spindle. For locking the roller cutter on thespindle in such manner that it will be retained in proper positionrelative to the bit head and yet be; capable of free rotative movementabout the spindle, I provide floating segments 8, 8mounted in a groove 9of the spindle, and of such external diameter as to. project from saidspindle and thus provide, in eiiect, an annular rib or shoulder. Theportion-of the bore in the roller cutter adjacent this ring or inventionis an improvement in the view of the locking s'egparts,

shoulder made up of r bore of the roller cutter a ring 10 is mounted,this being connected with the cutter member by a screwthread', so thatthe said ring turns with the roller. The inner diameter of the screwring 10 is such that it will turn freely on the spindle, and at thefront side, i. e., at 11, the face of the ring contacts with therear orinner face of the segmental locking ring 8, 8. By the engagement of thescrew ring back of the, segmental ring, the roller cutter is retained onthe spindle, but with freedom of rotation thereon. I

The screw ring has sockets at 12 by which a holding implement'may beengaged with the ring to hold it while the roller cutter is turned toscrew it onto the ring.- When these roller and screw threaded ring, haveeen assembled, they may be held by a pin 13 passing through the wall ofthe roller cutter into a socket 14 of the ring.

In assembling the parts of the roller cutter unit, this is done outsidethe bit head by first placing the screw ring'on the spindle, thereafterplacing the segments 8, 8 of the locking ring in position in the grooveof the spindle, then screwing the roller cutter onto the screw threadedring, and then, desirably, fixing the screw ring and roller cuttertogether by inserting the pin before mentioned.

The primary purpose of the segmental which the screw threaded ring willfind a retaining bearing, it being understood that this screw ring whenseated in the bore of the roller cutter virtually forms a part of saidroller. The segmental .ring is adapted to turn or float with the rollerand thus has an anti-friction characteror quality. In the event thatlubricant is introduced into the bore ofthe roller, this ring will forma'seal against its escape.

One way that the roller cutter may be lubricated is to lead oil througha conduit in the spindle, to the fore part of the bore of the rollercutter, so that this will find its way between the exterior of thespindle and the roller. The ring'will prevent undue'escape of thislubricant. It also resists back pressure in the well and keeps sand outof the bearing. It further resists the inward thrust from the side ofthe bore hole on the-cone, and it carries part of the working load fromthe normal operating surface of the cone. This split locking ringenables a one piece screw threaded ring to be used.

The assembly can be quickly made. The screw threaded ring being in onepiece can be handled as one body, and as no accurate registration ofparts, such as in the case of a di vided screw threaded ring, isnecessary, the screwing on of the cone can be performed with certaintyand with ease. The spindle, together with its base plate and shank, areall formed in one piece.

The split locking ring can be quickly assembled by placing its sectionsseparately into position from' opposite sides of the spindle into thegroove formed therein.

The unit, consisting of the shank, base plate spindle and roller cuttermounted thereon as above described, is intended to be handled as onebody in connecting it up with the head or in removing it therefrom.

It will be understood, however, that I do not limit my presentinvention'to its application to this removable unit and the disclosureabove made is not to be regarded as a limi tation upon my invention. thescope of which is defined by the appended claims.

Referring to the specific means for holding the shank of the rollercutter unit in place,

- this in the illustrated embodiment of my invention consists of a nut 4screw threaded onto the shank of the spindle with the left hand screwthread. There is a locking nut also screw threaded onto the shank at 4*and there is a washer at 4. The lock nut may be held on by a suitablecotter pin if desired. By reason of this arrangement, contact of the nutwith the material at the side of the hole being drilled, will tend totighten the nut in stead of loosening it, this result'being due to thedirection in which the screwthreads run relative to the direction ofrotation of the drilling apparatus.

While I have shown the ring 10 as a screw threaded ring I do not limitmyself to this manner of attaching this ringto the roller cutter.

I claim:

1. Aroller cutterunitforearth boring drills comprising a spindleandshank, said spindle having an annular groove in its surface, a ring 7of one piece mounted to turn on said spindle,

segmental pieces seated in the annular groove, and furnishing aretaining bearmg for and'en ,-gaging the front face of the ring, and aroller gutter mounted 'on the spindle and to which ."tlie -ring-. isattached, said ro'ller cutter having na -bore adapting it to slipaxially along the spindle over the segmental pieces to the ring tion, aspindle having a reduced portion in a plane transverse to its axis,locking members engaging said reduced portion of said spindle andprojecting therebeyond a roller cutter rotatably mounted upon saidspindle and having an annular seat recess into which said membersextend, and a retainer ring secured to said cutter and in engagementwith said members.

4. In earth boring apparatus, in combination, a spindle having a reducedportion in a plane transverse to its axis, ring segments engaging saidreduced portion of said spindle and projecting therebeyond, a rollercutter rotatably mounted upon said spindle and having an annular seatrecess into which said members extend, and a one-piece retainerringsecured to said cutter and in engagement with said members. saidring having a bearing upon said spindle.

5. In earth 'boring apparatus, cutter parts for assembly upon a spindlehaving an annular, groove, said parts comprising a roller cutter havinga bore to receive the spindle. said bore being enlarged in the plane ofsaid groove to form a seat recess and counterbored outwardly of saidplane, a segmental locking ring to fit said seat recess and toextendinto said groove, and a. one-piece ring to be secured in said outwardcounterbore of said cutter for engagement with said segmental ring.

6. In earth boring apparatus, cutter parts .spindle to form a seatrecess and having a threaded counterbore outwardly of said plane,segmental locking parts to engage 'the reduced portion of the spindleand to extend into said seat recess, and a one piece retainer ringhaving a threaded exterior to secure the same in the threadedcounterbore of said cutter lnto retalnlng engagement with said segmentalparts and having a smooth interior surface to have a bearing on thespindle.

7-. In an earth boring apparatus, a supportmg elementfor a rollercutter, comprising a shank and spindle disposed at an angle to eachother and integrally united, said spindle 5 I having stepped coaxialcylindrical portions,

the cylindrical portion adjacent said spindle being of substantialextent in anaxial direction and having an annular groove adjacent itsouter end to receive locking means.

8. In an earth boring apparatus, a supporting element for a rollercutter, comprising a shank and spindle disposed at an angle to eachother and integrally united, said element being enlarged atthe junctionof said shank and spindle to provide a base plate, said spindle havingstepped coaxial cylindrical portions, the cylindrical portions adjacentsaid spindle being of substantial extent in an axial direction andhaving an annular groove adjacent its outer end to receive locking meansfor a cutter. p

9. In a rotary well drill and in combination, a cone cutter having asubstantially flat base and a bore extending therefrom into the body ofthe cutter. a carrier for the cone including a base plate of greaterarea thanthe opening of the bore-through the base of the cone, and anon-threaded spindle extending from the base plate into the bore of thecone, a ring adapted to be passed over the spindle and into engagementwith the base plate prior to the positioningof the cone, retaining meansbrought into interlocking engagement with the spindle and intoengagement with the ring after the latter has been placed in positionand prior to the application of the cutter, said cutter being adapted tobe positioned after the positioning of the ring and retaining means andinterlocked with the ring.

10. In a rotary roller well drill and in combination, a supportingmember, a spindle'projecting therefrom and non-detachably con nected atone end thereto, a cutter directly mounted on the spindle, and means forhold-' ing the cutter in place thereon, including an endless ringcarried by the cutter and an element movable around the spindle andretained thereby against movement axially of the same, said cutterhousing the spindle and said holding means.

- 1'. In a rotary roller well drill and in comopening into the same fromits base and terminating within the body of the cone, the wall of thebore contiguous the closed end of the same providing bearing surfaces ofdissimilar diameter, the bore further providing an annular recess forthe reception of a retaining,

conical cutter and for supporting the latter in an inverted V-shapedrecess in a bit head, said member comprising a base plate having aspindle extending substantially at right angles from one side thereof,and a shank extending at an angle from its other side, the

parts being integral with one another, said spindle having a uniformcylindrical portion of substantial extent in an axial direction uponwhich the cutter is rotatably mounted, said cylindrical portion beingprovided with an annular groove in a plane perpendicular to its axis andintersecting the portion of the cutter of substantially its maximumdiameter for receiving'an element housed by the cutter acting to preventmovement of the latter axially of the spindle.

Signed at Wichita, Kansas, this 19th day of June, 1929.

CLARENCE E. REED.

bination, 'a spindle support, a spindle, a cutter mounted directly onthe spindle, and means for holding it in place, including an endlessring positioned by moving it axially along the spindle from its'free endtowards its supported end,-prior to the application of the cutter to thespindle.

12. A cone cutter having its conical surface toothed and provided withanaxial bore opening into the same from its base and terminating withinthe body of the cone, the wall of-the bore contiguous the closed end ofthe same-providing bearing surfaces of dissimilar diameter, the borefurther providing an annular recess for the reception of a retainingelement contiguous the bearing surface of maximum diameter and ofgreater diameter than the same, and the bore providing between the baseof the cone and the first named recess a second recess of greaterdiameter than the first forreceiving a retaining ring.

13. A cone cutter having its conical surface toothed and provided withan axial bore

